FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 6, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom welcomes yesterday’s release from detention of Rev. Yat Michael Ruot and Rev. Peter Yein Reith.  Rev. Michael was convicted of inciting hatred and Rev. Reith of breaching public peace and they were released on time served; other, more serious, charges against them were dropped.

“We are very pleased that the two pastors are now out of detention, but they should not have been charged and detained at all, let alone convicted,” said USCIRF Chairman Dr. Robert P. George.  “This case is a textbook example of the persecution of Christians in Sudan.”

Revs. Michael and Reith, both of South Sudanese origin, belong to the Presbyterian Evangelical Church Khartoum Bahri congregation.  The congregation has brought a legal case against Sudanese authorities to stop the illegal sale of church land to a Muslim businessman.  The National Intelligence Security Services (NISS) detained Rev. Michael in December 2014, after recording him urging parishioners at a church service to continue standing firm and to advocate for their religious freedom rights.  The same month, authorities partially destroyed the church and arrested 37 congregants.  Rev.  Reith was detained in January 2015. 

The pastors were charged with undermining the constitutional system (Article 50 of the Sudanese Criminal Code); waging war against the state (Article 51); disclosure and receipt of official information or documents (Article 55); arousing feelings of discontent among regular forces (Article 62); breach of public peace (Article 69); and offences relating to insulting religious beliefs (Article 125).  Violations of Article 50 or 51 carry the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Both pastors were held at an undisclosed location and were not granted access to lawyers and family until March 1.   In June, the pastors were moved to the high-security Kober Prison and were denied visits by their attorneys and wives. 

In 2015, USCIRF again recommended that Sudan be designated as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) for its particularly severe violations of religious freedom.  The State Department has designated Sudan as a CPC since 1999, most recently in July 2014.  For more information, see the Sudan Chapter in USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) this week solemnly marks the one-year anniversary of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant's (ISIL) attacks in the Sinjar and Tal Afar districts of northern Iraq’s Ninewa Province and their horrific outcomes.  During these attacks, ISIL targeted Yazidis and other religious communities: more than 500 Yazidi men were slaughtered; hundreds more men, women, and children were captured; women and girls were sold into slavery; and at least 200,000 civilians, most of them Yazidis, were forced to flee for their lives. For months, Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar faced imminent death either at the hands of ISIL or through starvation. 

“ISIL has unleashed untold misery and suffering on defenseless religious and ethnic communities, while destroying treasured religious and historical sites in both Iraq and Syria,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George. “Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and others are all at risk.  Due to ISIL’s reign of terror, millions of people from Iraq and Syria have been forced to flee and now are refugees or internally displaced.”

In response to these depredations, USCIRF recommended in its 2015 Annual Report that the U.S. government call for or support a referral by the UN Security Council to the International Criminal Court to investigate ISIL violations in Iraq and Syria against religious and ethnic minorities. USCIRF’s report also found that the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and the Iraqi government under former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, by exacerbating sectarian tensions that long have existed in these countries, fueled the conditions that allowed ISIL to rise, spread, and ultimately control significant areas of northern and central Iraq and Syria.

“The humanitarian crisis that now engulfs Syria, Iraq, and the neighboring countries that are hosting millions of refugees demands a more robust, multifaceted and strategic response,” said George. “The duration of the conflict and the millions of refugees in neighboring countries are causing sectarian tensions and increasing the risk of violence and instability.”

USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report provides several recommendations to the U.S. government relevant to the global displacement crisis, including:  raising the annual U.S. refugee resettlement ceiling from 70,000 to at least 100,000; allocating sufficient resources to the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to process applications and conduct security background checks expeditiously; and provide refugee host countries more aid to assist them in managing the burdens on their countries.

For more information, see the introductory chapter in USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report as well as the Iraq and Syria chapters.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or 202-786-0613.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 3, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) this week marks the two-year anniversary of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s assumption of office by repeating its call to improve conditions for freedom of religion or belief in Iran.  USCIRF also condemns the detention of prisoners of conscience, and calls for their immediate release.

“Two years have passed since President Rouhani assumed office, and for two years he has failed on his promise to improve the climate for religious freedom, particularly for religious minority communities.  In fact, the situation for religious minority groups – including Baha’is, Christians, and Sufi Muslims – remains dire, as it does for dissenting Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. The Iranian government aggressively persecutes Baha’is, whom it considers heretics not worthy of legal protections. Authorities recently closed dozens of Baha’i-owned businesses, further impoverishing this marginalized and persecuted community.  In addition, Christian church services continue to be raided and worshippers arrested, and dissenting Muslims continue to be imprisoned and tortured,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George.

At least 350 religious prisoners of conscience remain in Iranian prisons, including about 150 Sunni Muslims, more than 100 Baha’is, some 90 Christians, and a dozen Sufis. These include: Pastor Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor and U.S. citizen; Behnam Irani, an evangelical Christian leader; Ayatollah Mohammed Kazemeini Boroujerdi, a dissident Shi’a Muslim cleric; and members of the Baha’i community, including the Baha’i Seven (Afif Naemimi, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Vahid Tizfahm, Fariba Kamalabadi, Mahvash Sabet, and Saeid Rezaie).  These individuals are included in the Defending Freedoms Project, an initiative of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, in conjunction with USCIRF and Amnesty International USA.  Through this project, Members of Congress advocate in support of prisoners of conscience, shine a light on the laws and policies that have led to their imprisonment, and help hold governments accountable.

“Since August 2013, an increasing number of members of religious minority communities languish in prison solely because of their beliefs,” said George.  “The United States and other governments must continue to speak out publicly and frequently at the highest levels about the severe religious freedom abuses in Iran and hold accountable those Iranian government agencies and officials who are culpable for severe violations of religious freedom by continuing to freeze their assets and refuse them visas.”

USCIRF has recommended, and the State Department has designated, Iran as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) since 1999 for the Iranian government’s systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom. For more recommendations, see USCIRF’s 2015 Annual Report. 

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact Travis Horne at [email protected] or 202-786-0615.